Thirty years ago Tarboro, a quiet pre-Revolutionary town, stopped to look into the future. Other towns in North Carolina had gone out to seek new industry and were beginning to reap the benefits for their citizens. Tarboro had to move ahead, and it did. Through cooperative effort in industrial development and neighborly enterprise, the people of Tarboro have work a minor miracle.

Almost all North Carolina local governments have outstanding indebtedness. Yet except for the very largest counties and cities, local governments issues new debt--bonds and notes--only infrequently. This article introduces the reader to the subject of local government debt, and the character and history of debt in North Carolina